Lecture notes on introduction to probability and statistics Chapter 4: MEASURES OF Dispersion

(Variation)

CHAPTER 4
4. Measures of Dispersion (Variation)

Introduction and objectives of measuring Variation

-The scatter or spread of items of a distribution is known as dispersion or variation. In
other words, the degree to which numerical data tend to spread about an average value is
called dispersion or variation of the data.
-Measures of dispersions are statistical measures which provide ways of measuring the
extent in which data are dispersed or spread out.

Objectives of measuring Variation:

• To judge the reliability of measures of central tendency

• To control variability itself.
• To compare two or more groups of numbers in terms of their variability.
• To make further statistical analysis.

Absolute and Relative Measures of Dispersion

The measures of dispersion which are expressed in terms of the original unit of a series
are termed as absolute measures. Such measures are not suitable for comparing the
variability of two distributions which are expressed in different units of measurement and
different average size. Relative measures of dispersions are a ratio or percentage of a
measure of absolute dispersion to an appropriate measure of central tendency and are thus
pure numbers independent of the units of measurement. For comparing the variability of
two distributions (even if they are measured in the same unit), we compute the relative
measure of dispersion instead of absolute measures of dispersion.

Types of Measures of Dispersion

Various measures of dispersions are in use. The most commonly used measures of
dispersions are:
1) Range and relative range
2) Quartile deviation and coefficient of Quartile deviation
3) Mean deviation and coefficient of Mean deviation
4) Standard deviation and coefficient of variation.

The Range (R)

The range is the largest score minus the smallest score. It is a quick and dirty measure of
variability, although when a test is given back to students they very often wish to know
the range of scores. Because the range is greatly affected by extreme scores, it may give a
distorted picture of the scores. The following two distributions have the same range, 13,
yet appear to differ greatly in the amount of variability.

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Lecture notes on introduction to probability and statistics Chapter 4: MEASURES OF Dispersion
(Variation)

Distribution 1: 32 35 36 36 37 38 40 42 42 43 43 45
Distribution 2: 32 32 33 33 33 34 34 34 34 34 35 45

For this reason, among others, the range is not the most important measure of variability.

R = L−S , L = l arg est observation

S = smallest observation

Range for grouped data:

If data are given in the shape of continuous frequency distribution, the range is computed
as:
R = UCLk − LCL1 , UCLk is upperclass lim it of the last class.
UCL1 is lower class lim it of the first class.

This is some times expressed as:

R = X k − X1 , X k is class mark of the last class.
X 1 is classmark of the first class.

Merits and Demerits of range

Merits:
• It is rigidly defined.
• It is easy to calculate and simple to understand.
Demerits:
• It is not based on all observation.
• It is highly affected by extreme observations.
• It is affected by fluctuation in sampling.
• It is not liable to further algebraic treatment.
• It can not be computed in the case of open end distribution.
• It is very sensitive to the size of the sample.

Relative Range (RR)

It is also some times called coefficient of range and given by:

L−S R
RR = =
L+S L+S
Example:

1. Find the relative range of the above two distribution. (Exercise!)

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Lecture notes on introduction to probability and statistics Chapter 4: MEASURES OF Dispersion
(Variation)

2. If the range and relative range of a series are 4 and 0.25 respectively. Then what is the
value of: a) Smallest observation b) Largest observation
Solution: (2)
R = 4  L − S = 4 __________ _______(1)
RR = 0.25  L + S = 16 __________ ___( 2)
Solving (1) and (2) at the same time , one can obtain the following value
L = 10 and S = 6

The Quartile Deviation (Semi-inter quartile range), Q.D

The inter quartile range is the difference between the third and the first quartiles of a set of
items and semi-inter quartile range is half of the inter quartile range.
Q3 − Q1
Q.D =
2
Coefficient of Quartile Deviation (C.Q.D)

(Q3 − Q1 2 2 * Q.D Q3 − Q1
C. Q.D = = =
(Q3 + Q1 ) 2 Q3 + Q1 Q3 + Q1

➢ It gives the average amount by which the two quartiles differ from the median.

Example: Compute Q.D and its coefficient for the following distribution.

Values Freq. Solutions:

140- 150 17
150- 160 29 In the previous chapter we have obtained the values of
160- 170 42 all quartiles as:
170- 180 72 Q1= 174.90, Q2= 190.23, Q3=203.83
180- 190 84
190- 200 107 Q3 − Q1 203.83 − 174.90
200- 210 49  Q.D = = = 14.47
2 2
210- 220 34
2 * Q.D 2 *14.47
220- 230 31 C.Q.D = = = 0.076
230- 240 16 Q3 + Q1 203.83 + 174.90
240- 250 12
Remark: Q.D or C.Q.D includes only the middle 50% of the observation.

The Mean Deviation (M.D):

The mean deviation of a set of items is defined as the arithmetic mean of the values of the
absolute deviations from a given average. Depending up on the type of averages used we
have different mean deviations.

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Lecture notes on introduction to probability and statistics Chapter 4: MEASURES OF Dispersion
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a) Mean Deviation about the mean

• Denoted by M.D( X ) and given by

n
 Xi − X
M .D ( X ) = i =1
n
• For the case of frequency distribution it is given as:

k
 fi X i − X
M .D ( X ) = i =1
n

Steps to calculate M.D ( X ):

1. Find the arithmetic mean, X
2. Find the deviations of each reading from X .
3. Find the arithmetic mean of the deviations, ignoring sign.

b) Mean Deviation about the median.

~
• Denoted by M.D( X ) and given by

n ~
~
 Xi − X
M .D( X ) = i =1
n
• For the case of frequency distribution it is given as:

k ~
~
 fi X i − X
M .D( X ) = i =1
n
~
Steps to calculate M.D ( X ):
~
1. Find the median, X
~
2. Find the deviations of each reading from X .
3. Find the arithmetic mean of the deviations, ignoring sign.

c) Mean Deviation about the mode.

• Denoted by M.D( X̂ ) and given by

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Lecture notes on introduction to probability and statistics Chapter 4: MEASURES OF Dispersion
(Variation)

X i
ˆ
−X
ˆ)=
M.D( X i =1
n

• For the case of frequency distribution it is given as:

k
 f i X i − Xˆ
M .D ( Xˆ ) = i =1
n
Steps to calculate M.D ( X̂ ):
1. Find the mode, X̂
2. Find the deviations of each reading from X̂ .
3. Find the arithmetic mean of the deviations, ignoring sign.

Examples:
1. The following are the number of visit made by ten mothers to the local doctor’s surgery.
8, 6, 5, 5, 7, 4, 5, 9, 7, 4
Find mean deviation about mean, median and mode.
Solutions:
First calculate the three averages
~
X = 6, X = 5.5, Xˆ = 5
Then take the deviations of each observation from these averages.
Xi 4 4 5 5 5 6 7 7 8 9 total
X −6i
2 2 1 1 1 0 1 1 2 3 14

X i − 5.5 1.5 1.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 1.5 1.5 2.5 3.5 14

Xi − 5 1 1 0 0 0 1 2 2 3 4 14

10
 X i − 6) 14
 M .D( X ) = i =1
= = 1.4
10 10

10

~
 X i − 5.5 14
M .D ( X ) = i =1
= = 1.4
10 10

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Lecture notes on introduction to probability and statistics Chapter 4: MEASURES OF Dispersion
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10
 X i − 5) 14
M .D( Xˆ ) = i =1
= = 1.4
10 10

2. Find mean deviation about mean, median and mode for the following
distributions.(exercise)

Class Frequency
40-44 7
45-49 10
50-54 22
55-59 15
60-64 12
65-69 6
70-74 3

Remark: Mean deviation about the median is always the smallest.

Coefficient of Mean Deviation (C.M.D)

M .D
C.M .D =
Average about which deviations are taken

M .D( X )
 C.M .D( X ) =
X
~
~ M .D( X )
C.M .D( X ) = ~
X
M .D( Xˆ )
C.M .D( Xˆ ) =
Xˆ

Example: calculate the C.M.D about the mean, median and mode for the data in example
1 above.

Solutions:
M .D
C.M .D =
Average about which deviations are taken

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Lecture notes on introduction to probability and statistics Chapter 4: MEASURES OF Dispersion
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~
M .D( X ) 1.4 ~ M .D( X ) 1.4
 C.M .D( X ) = = = 0.233 C.M .D( X ) = ~ = = 0.255
X 6 X 5.5
M .D( Xˆ ) 1.4
C.M .D( Xˆ ) = = = 0.28
Xˆ 5

Exercise: Identify the merits and demerits of Mean Deviation

The Variance
Population Variance
If we divide the variation by the number of values in the population, we get something
called the population variance. This variance is the "average squared deviation from the
mean".

1
Population Varince =  2 =
N
 ( X i −  ) 2 , i = 1,2,.....N

For the case of frequency distribution it is expressed as:

1
Population Varince =  2 =
N
 f i ( X i −  ) 2 , i = 1,2,.....k

Sample Variance

One would expect the sample variance to simply be the population variance with the
population mean replaced by the sample mean. However, one of the major uses of
statistics is to estimate the corresponding parameter. This formula has the problem that
the estimated value isn't the same as the parameter. To counteract this, the sum of the
squares of the deviations is divided by one less than the sample size.

1
Sample Varince = S 2 =
n −1
 ( X i − X ) 2 , i = 1,2,.....,n

For the case of frequency distribution it is expressed as:

1
Sample Varince = S 2 =
n −1
 f i ( X i − X ) 2 , i = 1,2,.....k

We usually use the following short cut formula.

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Lecture notes on introduction to probability and statistics Chapter 4: MEASURES OF Dispersion
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n
 Xi − nX 2
2

S2 = i =1
, for raw data.
n −1
k
 fi X i − nX 2
2

S2 = i =1
, for frequency distribution.
n −1

Standard Deviation

There is a problem with variances. Recall that the deviations were squared. That means
that the units were also squared. To get the units back the same as the original data
values, the square root must be taken.

Population s tan dard deviation =  =  2

Sample s tan dard deviation = s = S 2
The following steps are used to calculate the sample variance:

1. Find the arithmetic mean.

2. Find the difference between each observation and the mean.
3. Square these differences.
4. Sum the squared differences.
5. Since the data is a sample, divide the number (from step 4 above) by the number of
observations minus one, i.e., n-1 (where n is equal to the number of observations in the
data set).

Examples: Find the variance and standard deviation of the following sample data
1. 5, 17, 12, 10.
2. The data is given in the form of frequency distribution.
Class Frequency
40-44 7
45-49 10
50-54 22
55-59 15
60-64 12
65-69 6
70-74 3

Solutions:

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Lecture notes on introduction to probability and statistics Chapter 4: MEASURES OF Dispersion
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1. X = 11
Xi 5 10 12 17 Total
(Xi- X) 2 36 1 1 36 74

n
 ( X i − X )2 74
 S2 = i =1
= = 24.67.
n −1 3
 S = S 2 = 24.67 = 4.97.

2. X = 55
Xi(C.M) 42 47 52 57 62 67 72 Total
fi(Xi- X)2 1183 640 198 60 588 864 867 4400

n
 fi ( X i − X )2 4400
 S 2 = i =1 = = 59.46.
n −1 74
 S = S 2 = 59.46 = 7.71.

Coefficient of Variation (C.V)

• Is defined as the ratio of standard deviation to the mean usually expressed as percents.
S
C.V = *100
X
• The distribution having less C.V is said to be less variable or more consistent.

Example: An analysis of the monthly wages paid (in Birr) to workers in two firms A and
B belonging to the same industry gives the following results

Value Firm A Firm B

Mean wage 52.5 47.5
Median wage 50.5 45.5
Variance 100 121

In which firm A or B is there greater variability in individual wages?

Solutions:
Calculate coefficient of variation for both firms.

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Lecture notes on introduction to probability and statistics Chapter 4: MEASURES OF Dispersion
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SA 10
C.VA = *100 = *100 = 19.05%
XA 52.5
S 11
C.VB = B *100 = *100 = 23.16%
XB 47.5
Since C.VA < C.VB, in firm B there is greater variability in individual wages.

Exercise: A meteorologist interested in the consistency of temperatures in three cities during

a given week collected the following data. The temperatures for the five days of the week in
the three cities were

City 1 25 24 23 26 17
City2 22 21 24 22 20
City3 32 27 35 24 28

Which city have the most consistent temperature, based on these data?

Standard Scores (Z-scores)

• If X is a measurement from a distribution with mean X and standard

deviation S, then its value in standard units is

X −
Z= , for population.

X −X
Z= , for sample
S
• Z gives the deviations from the mean in units of standard deviation
• Z gives the number of standard deviations a particular observation lies above
or below the mean.
• It is used to compare two observations coming from different groups.

Examples:
1. Two sections were given introduction to statistics examinations. The following
information was given.

Value Section 1 Section 2

Mean 78 90
Stan.deviation 6 5

Student A from section 1 scored 90 and student B from section 2 scored 95. Relatively
speaking who performed better?

Solutions:
Calculate the standard score of both students.

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Lecture notes on introduction to probability and statistics Chapter 4: MEASURES OF Dispersion
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X A − X 1 90 − 78
ZA = = =2
S1 6
X B − X 2 95 − 90
ZB = = =1
S2 5
➔ Student A performed better relative to his section because the score of student A is
two standard deviations above the mean score of his section while, the score of student B
is only one standard deviation above the mean score of his section.

2. Two groups of people were trained to perform a certain task and tested to find out
which group is faster to learn the task. For the two groups the following information
was given:
Value Group one Group two

Mean 10.4 min 11.9 min

Stan.dev. 1.2 min 1.3 min

Relatively speaking:
a) Which group is more consistent in its performance
b) Suppose a person A from group one take 9.2 minutes while
person B from Group two take 9.3 minutes, who was faster in
performing the task? Why?
Solutions:

a) Use coefficient of variation.

S1 1.2
C.V1 = *100 = *100 = 11.54%
X1 10.4
S 1.3
C.V2 = 2 *100 = *100 = 10.92%
X2 11.9
Since C.V2 < C.V1, group 2 is more consistent.

b) Calculate the standard score of A and B

X A − X 1 9.2 − 10.4
ZA = = = −1
S1 1.2
X B − X 2 9.3 − 11.9
ZB = = = −2
S2 1.3
➔Child B is faster because the time taken by child B is two standard deviations shorter
than the average time taken by group 2, while the time taken by child A is only one
standard deviation shorter than the average time taken by group 1.

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